Men’s basketball comes out on top over Briar Cliff, 87-74

Sophomore guard Hayden Frank (24) tries to grab the ball from an opponent as teammates are ready to assist (photo from previous game)

Photo credit: Maddy Peters

By Isaac Dawson

Concordia Men’s Basketball controlled the pace of the game well this Saturday, finishing the game with a 13-point win over the visiting Briar Cliff Chargers a 87-74.

The game changer against the Chargers was the Bulldogs’ three-point shot percentage almost doubling since their last game against Morningside on Wednesday. Their improved overall scoring game coupled with a great defense in the first half allowed for a large cushion going into the second. Instead of going for 7-28 from behind the line the Bulldogs pulled up for 11-24 and managed to get 20 successful free throws alongside 28-60 field goals.

Coach Ben Limback’s team had a consistent offense throughout the game. They kept the lead the entire game and now stand at 5-3 overall and 2-3 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.

“Tristan [Smith] and Noah [Schutte] are the guys that get keyed in on,” said Limback, “but they did a good job of sharing the ball. I mean we had five guys in double figures; Jaxon Stueve played in his role really well, and so did Brad Bennett in the end there. We had guys that really locked into their roles tonight.”

Senior Noah Schutte was the leading scorer for Concordia by three points at 22 total. He was closely followed by senior Bradley Bennett with 19, senior Tristan Smith at 16, sophomore Jaxon Stueve at 16, and sophomore Hayden Frank at 10. Smith pulled off a double-double as well by pulling off 12 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, and two blocks.

The Bulldogs came in with a lot of energy in the first half with 11-30 field goals and 6-14 three pointers. They pushed back the Charger’s defense while keeping them to 8-30 on field goals and 2-16 for threes. 20 combined rebounds worked events to Concordia’s favor. Near the end of the first half Briar Cliff managed to throw off the Bulldog’s groove. They couldn’t quite shrink the lead to less than 11 points as the half ended at 36-25.

The second half didn’t go quite as well for Concordia defensively. To make up for it the Bulldogs ramped up their offensive cohesion during their turn at the net to maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the half. The Chargers couldn’t keep up with the increased accuracy and movement from Concordia who went for 17-30 in field goals and 5-10 for threes.

The good scoring was almost interrupted with 11 minutes left in the half with an unfortunately placed elbow finding Smith’s head and knocking him to the ground. Smith was able to recover with little trouble, coming back into the game shortly after to finish out the game at 87-74.

Concordia’s next match is another home game against the Hastings College Broncos on December 11 at 7:45 p.m.